Radial draft-gear.



H.T.KRAK'AU.

RADIAL DRAFT GEAR.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 11, 1906. RENEWED OCT. 14, 1907.

' Patented Sept. 29, 1908.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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O T N E V N wrrli asses H. T; KRAKAU.

RADIAL DRAFT GEAR. APPLICATION TILED MAY 11, 1906-. RENEWED 001'. 14, 1907.

Patented Sept. 29, 1908.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

9W. t fis tew H. T. KRAKAU. RADIAL DRAFT GEAR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 11, 1996. RBNEW ED OCT. 14, 1907.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Patented Sept. 29, 1908.

AwN

INVENTOR wrrusssss.

(LEVELAN sEATENT OFFICE.

, ASSIGXOR TO THE NATIONAL MALLEABLE D, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

RADIAL DRAFT-GEAR.

' Application filed May 11, 190

To all whom it may con cern:

Be it known that I, HARRY T. KRAKAU, of Cleveland, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, have invented, a new and useful dial Draft-Gear, of whi full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying (.lrawings, formingpart of this specification, in which Figure 1' is a partial plan view partly in section ofa radial draft gear embo vcntiou; Fig. 2 is a part showing a side tional view on a larger scale, showing the forward end of the coupler and'buifer; Fig. 4 is 'a sectional view showing buffer in its attachment to the car; Fig. 5 shows a modification; Fig. 6 is a vertical seclongitudina section in tion on the line VII-YII of Fig. 3.; Figs. 7 I and S are sectional vlews showing modifica-- i tions o the parts illustrated in Fig. 6.

My invention which the coupler is capable of swinging latorally through a wide range and is connected to the truck so as ti be guided thereby positively into proper position.

The device cam be used with success on passenger cars, and can alsobc applied to draftgears in a manner use not only with much onfreight c of such laterally-swinging draft gears are, that they relieve the cars from the grcat strain to which they are subjected when providcd with latcrally-fixcd draftgears, and also remove the strain from the wheels, axles, and true and thus increase the durability of the cars and effect a very consider able economy in the power required to move the trains.

The drawings show the preferred embodiment of my invention but it-will be understood by those skilled in the art that the parts and their arrangement may be modified in many ways and that some of the parts of the apparatus may be applied to use with out the others.

In the drawings,

with passenger cars, but also greater efficiency than heretofore ar equipments. The advantages I 2 represents the car coupler, which has a long rear extension preferably made in the form of a shank 3 which terminates at the end in a socket 4. for a vertical pivot-pin 5. For convenience, I prefer to make the coupler-shank in two parts 3' and-3', the rear ortion 3 being rovided with asocketor pm hole 4 and its ront end Specification of Letters Patent. Serial 'No. 316,296. Renewed October 14, 1

Improvement in Rach the following-1s a 1 dying my inelevation Fig. 3 is a secthe rear end of the 2 provides a draft gear in:

which will adapt them for Patented Sept. 29, 1908. 907. Serial,No.397,355.

l fitting between forks at the rear end of the forward portion 3 to which it is bolted. The, socket 4 fits within yoke 6 to which it is attached by the pivot-pin 5, and the yoke is mounted between draft-irons'7, 7, followers 8 being set cross-wise within the, yoke and 1 adapted to bear against stops 9 on the irons. A spring or springs 10 is interposed between; the followers and with the followers constitutes the draft-rigging. A suitable rail-bolt .which is a well-known equivalent may be substituted for the yoke, frictional devices and the like may be employed, and the construct-ion and arrangement of the springs and followers may be modified in many ways.

The coupler shank orextensionissupported by carry irons b, b and at its rear portion, the member 3 of the coupler shank is curved upwardly so as to bring the in '5 and the yoke of the draft-rigging at su stantially the level of the-car sills. Above the carry-iron i b the shoe 0 is applied to the shank 3 at its lower'part so as to give it full bearing on the carry iron and a good wearing surface.

When the car is'in service, the coupler and 30 its shank will turn radially on the axis of the )in 5, being guided by means described beiow, so that it will at all times be in approxi- Emately the central'portion of the railway 5 track. The draft-rigging, hpwcver, does not more laterally, but remains in the longitudi: nal axis of the car, and as the cc ipler is sub- I jccted to the essure of bulling and draft, the forward follbwer of the'draft-rigging will be forced back against the spring or the rear follower drawn forward against the spring, as the case may be, the forward stops 9 resisting the force of draft and the rear stops 9 resisting the force of bufling.

To guide the coupler-shank and to hold substantially at the center of the track, I provide it. with guiding-rods shown in Fig. 1 which are made with telescopically-arranged sections having interposed springs 11 and at their rear ends these rods are connected by ball-andsocket joints 12 to brackets 13 at the ends of the truck, and at their forward ends the rods are connected by ball-andsocket joints 14 with an elbow-lci-er or like connection 15 mounted at the middle on the 10? vertical in 16 forming part of a sleeve 16' mounte on the coupler-shank as shown in Fi s. 2 and 6.

he telescopic nections between it as rods'serve as guiding conthe coupler shank and the invention to passenger cars, and therefore platform-buffers are provided which are constructed in accordance with my invention so that they will move laterallywith the coupler-shank and thus will bemaintained in enthe car. The partfor face plate 1.9 with a rearwardlyfpro- .body end-sill of the car.

it has a flanged. portion 17 to which the gagement With each other in all positions of platform bufi'er has a forward e'c'tih'g shank 19 secured to a front, buffer spring casing 20 which is fitted telescopically over a rear buffer spring case 21. Springs 22 are set in the, spring cases and the rear case 21 has a connection withah ejeurved guide segment, the forward face of which "is concentric with the pivot in 5. These segments are constituted as s own in Figs. 2 and 4. The casting -17 is fixed between the center sillsof the car and constitutes part of the At the forward side curved segment 25 is bolted so that it can be detached when desired. The front of the segment is" preferably of T-shape and its upper flange engages the'lip or guide flange d at the end of the rear spring case 21 of the buffer. There is a separate casting 30 secured by bolts 30 to the buffer and fitting the lower portion'of the segment .25, in conjunction with the lip or flange (l it-'.holds the bufier to the segment, and" by rea's onmf its detachability from the buffer, it b'i'lables the buffer to be readily removed from the segment without detaching the other parts. i

The buffer is engaged with the couplershank in such manner as to ermit an indeendent relative'motion of these parts to a limited extent in the direction of length of the car, and so as to cause them to move laterally together. This engagement is made by pins or rojections on one of those parts, fitting wit in longitudinally slotted or elongated sockets on the other part, one pair of these engaging devices being at the rear of the buffer, and preferably as near to its guidingsegment as possible. The pin 30 constituting" one of the engaging devices projects downwardly from the part 30. The pin 30? fits within a socket 31 secured'to the cou ler shank, which may be somewhat wider t an the diameter of the pin, so that it will'not permit independent lateral motion of the parts, but will permit independent longitudinal motion thereof. A corresponding in andrsocket connection 27 connects the bu er and codpler shank beneath the buffer springs, these parts, however being shown integrally formed with the buffer spring case, and with the coupler shank respectively. A third sliding connection between these parts is afforded by forming on the top of the coupler, a forked guiding portion 28 which engages a rib 28 on the under-side of the buffer shank. By these devices, the buffer is moved laterally with the coupler, and is adapted to move longitudinally with reference thereto with as little friction and liability of binding as possi ble. The buffer being thus moved at its rear and forward points with the coupler, constitutes in effect a floating member which has its rear bearing on a curved and extended surface at the end-sill of the car frame, and transmits the stresses of buffing to the endsillin a straight line in every position in which it may be carried by the coupler.

\ In Fig. 5, I show a modified construction in which the bracket 17 is riveted to the casting 17 instead of being made integral therewith as in Fig. 4, and it fits between a forked portion 25 of the bracket 25 to which it is secured by bolts 25. In this figure I also show the pin 30 integral with the buffer instead of being detachably secured thereto as in Fig. 4.

In Figs. 7 and 8 I show modified constructions of the front connection between the coupler and buffer. In Fig. 7 a pad 28 having an upward projection or pin is secured to the top of the coupler 2 and fits within a groove 28 on the bottom of the buffer shank, and in Fig. 8 the in or projection 28" is integral with the coup er and fits within a groove inthe buffer shank 19.

Within the scope of my invention as defined in the claims, those skilled in the art can modify the device in many ways, since What I claim is 1. A laterally swinging buffer in combine. tion with a curved segment against which a part of the buffer bears and a bracket secured to the frame of the car and so )porting the segment, substantially as described.

2. A curved guiding segment in combination with the shank having a flange adapted to fit one surface of the segment, and. a removable piece securing the shank detachably to the other face of the segment; substantially as described.

3. A radially-swinging draft-gear and a floating buffer, said draft-gear having an engagement with the buffer at the front and rear portions and at an intermediate portion. permitting relative lon itudinal motion of these parts; substantially as described.

4. A radially swinging draft gear and floating buffer, said draft gear having a coupling-head engaged with the buffer by engage ment permitting relative motion of these parts in the direction ofthe length of the car, substantially as described.

5. A laterally-swinging draft-gear and floating buffer connected for simultaneous lateral movements, said draft-gear being arranged below the buffer and being curved upwardly back of the buffer, to the pivotal connection on which it swings laterally sub-,-

stantially as described.

6. A laterally-swinging draft-gear and floating bufler connected for simultaneous lateral movements, said draft-gear being arranged below the buffer and being curved upwardly back of the buffer to the pivotal connection on which it swings lateral and pivotal connection; substantially as deinclined upwardly to a pivotal anchorage on the car, substantially as described.

9. A laterally swinging bufler and a laterall swinging draft gear sup orted independently of one another, the raft gear being below the buffer and extended in rear thereof and inclined upwardly to a pivotal anchorage in substantial horizontal alinement with the bufier, substantially as described. I

10. A buffer, draft rigging alined in rear of the buffer, and a draw-bar below the buffer with its rear end inclined upwardly and connected to the rigging, substantially as de scribed. I

11. A draft rigging, a transverse arcuate a yielding draft-rigging at the rear of said buffer and draw-bar being connected guide in front of the rigging, a laterally movable buffer engagpd with the guide, and a draw-bar below t e buffer with its rear end inclined upwardly and connected to the rigging, the bufier and draw-bar being connect-' ed for simultaneous swinging movements,

substantially as described.

, 12. A draft rigging, a transverse arcuate guide in front thereof, a laterally movable elastically telescopic buffer engaged with the guide, and a draw-bar below the buffer with its rear end inclined upwardly and pivoted to the rigging, the buffer and draw-bar being connected for simultaneous swinging movements and for individual endwise movements, there being a connection between the draw-bar and the outer section of the buffer to cause" said section to move rearwardly with the gear, substantially as described.

- 13. A laterally swingin draft gear and a laterally swinging buffer located one above the other with the lower member extended in rear of the up er member and inclined upwardly to a pivotal anchorage in'substam tially horizontal alinement with said other member, the twomembers being connecter for simultaneous lateral swinging move mentsand capable of independent endwise movements, substantially as described.

14. A laterally swinging buffer, draft rigging alined in rear of the buffer and a draw- .bar below the buffer with its rear end inclined upwardly and connected to the rigging, the

or s1- multaneous lateral swinging movements and able of independent endwise movements,

ca substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

HARRY T. KRAKAU.

Witnesses: F. L. HIOKOK,

I HARnY E. ORR. 

